dfortier5 Reviews

Nos étés (2005–2008)

Superb Series!

[10/10 · 26 October 2006]

This series has to be the second best series on French Canadian television. "Le retour" being the best. Both series were written by the same writers, Anne Boyer and Michel D'Astous.

The story revolves around a century (starting in the year 1900) in the lives of two families; the rich Desrochers-Mannings who own a summer home and the poor Belziles their closest neighbors. The rich and the poor's lives are intermingled in a realistic way.

Since the story revolves around the summer home over 100 years, more than one time line is followed at the same time. We may see one character as a child and in the next scene as an adult. The "future" scenes are intermixed wonderfully well with the "past" from the very beginning of the series. We see shadows of things to come in the past and shadows of the past in the future scenes. The eras merge together in a magical, brilliant way that helps us fully understand the story since the past in intimately linked to the future.

The characters are wonderfully coloured, as usual for these writers. The acting is wonderful and the visual effects are superbly convincing. This is a very different type of show with brilliant ideas. Anne and Michel outdid themselves on this series! Most of the actors are well known and do a superb job! All around an excellent series!

Passe-Partout (1977–1993)

Great Kids' Show

[30 March 2006]

I was the father of 2 when Passe Partout started. I don't know how I started watching the shows but I ended up loving it as much as my children! The line I remember most is "deux fesses qui s'connaissent" which was very provocative for a kids show in my opinion of the time. But we all loved the show nonetheless.

This show was so good for both parents and kids! The whole cast were heros to scores of kids. They learned and were entertained all at the same time. Much the French equivalent in quality and education as Sesame Street was.

They just don't make them like this anymore!!!

Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)

Better Than the Trailer

[7/10 · 27 November 2005]

Aside from the fact that Yours, Mine and Ours 2005 can't hold a candle to the original 1968 movie, this new movie is not as bad as I thought it would be. Although it wasn't nearly as good as what I wanted it to be either.

First off, this movie has absolutely nothing in common with the real North-Beardsley story. The filmmakers never even bothered to contact Frank (who is now 90) or any of his 20 children to let them know this movie would be made, which shows total lack of respect, class and decency on their part.

The trailers and commercials don't do this movie justice. It's not really a fair representation of the movie. I wouldn't call it a 'family' comedy. It's more a movie for young children, although I find that Frank saying the words "pissed off" in front of the children was very inappropriate! And Dylan's suggestion that the parents find Miranda and Phoebe in lesbian sex was equally inappropriate and in very bad taste! Much more so since this is a kids' movie! The story itself is not bad, almost plausible, except for the fact that Frank & Helen marry impulsively. Forget the 18 kids, what responsible parent would realistically do that? The movie is very Disney-ish, which in my opinion is a good thing. The slapstick comedy may make some people laugh. I chuckled, but generally didn't find the movie funny. My wife found it cute.

What I didn't like is that it's very choppy. You get the feeling that they forgot to tell us something between this scene and the next. The slapstick scenes are too long and the "story-telling" scenes are too short. The movie would be much better if they spent less time on the slapstick and took the time to develop the kids' characters. It would have been a better movie had it been longer. I came away feeling like they didn't tell me the whole story, only the point-form story.

The small boys, Lao, Ely, Otter, Aldo and Ethan are extremely cute! That's the film's best asset! Of course the best line in the movie is by 4-year-old Ethan who says "I don't want to loose another mommy!" The Indian twins, Bina and Marissa were loud-mouthed pains, but I guess they did a good job, because that's what their characters are like. The middle kids, Naoko, Harry, Michael, Mick, Kelly, Jimi and Joni all were good in their rolls and had interesting characters, but they all get blurred together. Sean Faris who plays the eldest, William, was not at all believable in the role of big brother. He looked the part, but he didn't act it. The teens, Christina, Phoebe and Dylan were good and believable. It's just too bad we didn't get to know the kids better, because all of them had interesting characters.

Dennis Quaid plays the father, Frank, who is 48 years old. Sorry, but Dennis looked WAY older than 48! He needed a lot more make-up to hide his real age. He actually looked older than his real age, 51. He also is not at all believable as a military man. He doesn't exude any authority what so ever. All he knows how to do is blow his whistle and yell. That's not authority. That's someone who's out of control. They should have picked another actor for the role.

Rene Russo plays Helen who is also 48. She hides her age (51) well. She's also believable as a free spirited person, but she's not at all believable as the mother of 10. She looks too anorexic to have given birth to 4 kids. She also doesn't look motherly at all. The character Helen is also a big slob! "A house is for free expression, not good impression." Maybe if you're alone, but with 10 kids? Yeah, right!

The multiple animals were fun and in Helen's family it's believable that they would have several animals. But who ever thought up the idea of having a pig as a pet in this film is out of his mind! Who has a pig for a pet inside city limits? Come on! Let's get real here. The pig was way over the top, very obnoxious and really made the movie look cheesy.

I wondered what Linda Hunt, who plays the housekeeper, Mrs. Munion, was doing in the story. Can a family of 20 really afford a maid? Why would you even need a maid when you have many capable hands to help with the housework? I liked the character. She was funny and well played, but unfortunately she was totally useless to the story.

It may not sound like it, but all in all I liked this movie. It's just sad to know that the filmmakers didn't care enough about the project to put in the effort to make it a much better film, when it would have been so easy to do so.

Christmas Eve (1986 TV Movie)

The Best Christmas Movie Ever!

[10/10 · 4 November 2005]

Loretta Young plays Amanda Kingsley, who is a rags to riches older widow. Even though Amanda is very wealthy and eccentric, she never forgot the poor people of the world. She is a lady who is very classy, and very charitable. Amanda spends her nights giving out food and cash to homeless people, along with her loyal English butler, Maitland.

Amanda finds out she has an aneurysm and will die soon, but she keeps it a secret from her son Andrew. She only tells Maitland who is always by her side. Because the end is near Amanda sets out to hire a down-and-out private investigator, Morris Huffner and pays him a large amount in cash for him to find her three estranged grandchildren. They left home many years ago because they were at odds with their father, Amanda's unemotional, straight-laced, business man son, Andrew.

Andrew is constantly at odds with his mother too and he especially doesn't like the way Amanda spends her money. When Amanda changes her will to ensure her son only gets 49% of the family business stocks, Andrew tries to declare her incompetent.

P.I. Morris Huffner doesn't have much to go on to find Harley, Melissa and Josh. But knowing he gets a bonus for every grandchild he finds before Christmas motivates him. He doesn't realize how emotionally attached he will become to this family and how much this case will change his life.

Will Morris find the grandchildren, who don't want to be found, before Christmas? If they are found, will the grandchildren be willing to come back home and face their father? Will Amanda be found incompetent by the courts? Will Amanda die before Christmas? Why is Andrew such a hard person when his mother is so kind? Will Andrew finally see the light?

The way the conclusion is played out makes everyone in my family either cry or get choked up. We know the ending. We've watched it every year for nearly 20 years, but it never fails to make us emotional! This movie is worth watching, if only for the ending that hits you hard emotionally. A real tear jerker! Every year Christmas Eve never fails to put us in the Christmas spirit! This is the best Christmas movie ever!

The Really Big Family (1967)

A True Really BIG Family

[9/10 · 29 October 2005]

UPDATED August 5/06 KEVIN DUKES, IF YOU SEE THIS, I'D LOVE TO CHAT WITH YOU. WE CAN MAKE CONTACT ON THE "MESSAGE BOARD" AT THE BOTTOM OF THE IMDb PAGE OF YOUR FAMILY'S DOCUMENTARY. PLEASE REPLY TO THE MESSAGE I LEFT THERE FOR YOU.

I SURE HOPE YOU READ THIS! :-)

Original post: This is a 1966 documentary of the Dukes family who have 18 children and lived in Washington State. The spectator goes through a whole week with the family, the week before the eldest daughter, Bobbi's wedding. The documentary is narrated by Henry Fonda, who, oddly enough, two years later would play the father of 18 kids in the movie Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).

The Dukes family consists of Bill Dukes, the dad, a shy man who says he never knew what it was like to have a family since he was an only child raised by "step-parents". More than wealth, leisure or peace of mind, this 41 year old dad wanted children. He wishes he were as good at his job at being a father as his wife is at being a mother. But he surely comes across as a terrific dad! He is a very humble man.

The mom is Louise, who is in the TRUE sense of the word: SUPERMOM! She comes from a family of 15, so lots of kids is the norm for her. She is an extremely patient mom who governs the house with a firm hand, but mostly with a loving one. When the kids are away she misses them. She says in a voice-over, "I'd be lost without them. The noise, the commotion, the 100 little problems. They're my life." Louise is a TRUE mother!

The kids are as follows: Bobbi, 21, is getting married and is busy making bridesmaid dresses for all her sisters.

Mary, 18, who can't wait to be on her own is furnishing an apartment. She said "We are a very close family, but sometimes when you look at a brother or sister, they're almost strangers. There are so many of us that Mother and Daddy just can't give us each a lot of personal attention. So we turn to each other for companionship. And we form pairs and little groups."

Anne, 17 is a loner and complains about lack of privacy. She doesn't want a large family, not more than 8 kids! "Large" is a relative term.

Billy at 16 is a typical teenage boy stuck in the middle of a bunch of sisters.

Then there are Linda, 15, Janice, 14, the studious twins Jimmy, and Jane, both 13. Then there is Theresa, 12, Michael, 11, and Miriam, 10. Then come Mark, 8, and Robert, 7 who love to fight. Next comes Carrie, 6, who can't wait to move from the nursery to the "big girls" bedroom. The younger ones are Gregory, 5, Joseph, 4, Kevin, 3, and finally, baby Angela, 1.

The Dukes family are extremely open and honest about how it REALLY is living in the family... fights and all! One keen observer noticed that in a 3 hour period there were 22 minor incidents, 5 serious skirmishes and one full-scale war!

In 1966, the Dukes' food budget was $260 per month. Any emergency that came up was taken out of the food budget. The Dukes bought everything in bulk. Flocks of 20 live chickens at 50¢ each, 100 lbs of flour and 30 lbs of peanut butter per month. 50 lbs of powdered milk for 4 gallons of milk a day, 20 dozen eggs a week. Louise Duke said "It's senseless to worry. I just keep shopping till the money runs out. Things will work out. They always do." Sometimes she had to stretch the food budget twice as long. They managed, she said.

They also bought groceries "on the hoof". Bill Dukes bought whole, live cattle, which he butchered himself and stored in the family meat locker. 500 lbs of beef lasted 3 months.

All in all we get a true sense of what it is like living in this family. No holds barred here. They tell it like it is. A wonderful documentary!

The Bradys (1990)

Very Good Show!

[2 September 2005]

I don't care what anyone says, this was a very good show!!! 10 out of 10 for me! It was fun seeing them reunite the Bradys again, but unfortunately no one gave this new show a good chance to survive. The main reason it failed isn't because it was a bad show, it was because the network played it too early. They should have targeted the adult audience who were raised with the Bradys.

This new drama was VERY GOOD! I loved it! I taped every show. The only thing I didn't like is they made Mike a politician. I hated that idea. But working for an architect myself, I unfortunately know how much architecture is closely related to politics. But for an honest politician, I found Mike had a LOT of conflicts of interest!!! Sure didn't make him look too clean when several members of his family are involved with his proposal. Another thing I didn't like is when Nora joined her two sisters-in-law in the catering business when she's a nurse.

I loved that Marcia stood by Wally through thick and thin! I loved that they brought realistic problems i.e. Wally constantly looking for a job, Marcia and Wally being homeless, Marcia drinking too much, Bobby being paralyzed, Jan & Phillip who can't conceive, Greg & Peter getting into a huge fight only to have Dr. Greg ultimately save his brother's life. How can anyone say that these are not good story lines? I still get mad every time I think that this show was cut short when it could easily have had a long life!

Aurore (2005)

Great Movie!! But Lacked a Little Something

[8/10 · 1 August 2005]

I really want to give a 10 out of 10 on this movie! But unfortunately I can't. This is a great movie that lacks just a little something. That little something is violence. No I'm not a sadist and I don't like violence in films, but this is a movie about torture and we don't see any of it. It's only implied. It's sad to say, but this story isn't complete without it. Having the camera pan off while we hear Aurore being tortured made this movie miss something. It almost made it appear cheesy. They could easily have had the audience squirming in their seats had they shown just a tiny glimpse of the crazy torture that La marâtre imposed on Aurore. I just feel it would have been a bit more realistic had they shown a tiny bit of it.

Hélène Bourgeois-Leclerc did a MAGNIFICENT job interpreting the evil step-mother. Actually, she's not evil, she's crazy. Hélène definitely carries the whole movie! I actually felt sorry for her because she's so demented. I hated the step-mother in the original film because she was just plain mean and enjoyed torturing Aurore. But in this new version Hélène made the character out to be more human. She actually believed that by torturing, hum, I mean disciplining Aurore she was fulfilling her duties as a parent. In her mind she wasn't doing it to be mean. She didn't mean to kill Aurore and the other kids. She's just so totally crazy, that's all. It was an excellent job on Hélène's part! Bravo Hélène!!

I had no feelings towards the father in the original movie, but found myself surprised to be hating the father, Thélesphore Gagnon, in this movie. I've liked Serge Postigo in everything he's done in the past. This is the first time I hate his character. He did an excellent job in this movie! Bravo Serge!

And what can I say about Marianne Fortier who played "Aurore". Those EYES! My goodness! The child acts with her eyes! Beautiful job for her first time around! And I'm not saying that because we share the same family name.

The rest of the actors were really good. As usual. We all know and love all of them from so many roles in other movies and from TV.

I just hope that the powers that be are smart enough this time around with the DVD to remove their blinders for once and think beyond the borders of the province of Quebec by dubbing the movie in English, so others who don't speak French in Canada and the US can enjoy this beautiful gem of a movie.

Great film! Go see it! Well worth it!

PS: Aug/05; I went to see Aurore for a second time. It was ever better the second time around! Dec/05; I now have the DVD and have watched it several times. I love it more and more every time I see it!